Sunday, April 03, 2005

Does anybody know who the Packers might want to draft this April with their first pick? I'm terrible at guessing who the Packers draft in the first round and this April is wide open for speculation. In the past few seasons, most offseason guessing had centered around a young QB to groom as QB Brett Favre's replacement. But this offseason has the Packers trying to rebuild a broken defense and has seen their offensive line lose both starting guards to free agency. There isn't a single position that couldn't use more depth. Tight end to replace still unsigned TE Bubba Franks? More depth behind the top 3 wide receivers? More depth on offensive line? Defensive line? Linebacker? Secondary? All of these positions could use more depth. The most obvious two positions are linebacker and safety, however, linebackers and safeties are two of the most ignored positions in the first round. Pat Kirwan at nfl.com reviewed the top 32 players and said "there seems to be more of a blur when you consider how close the talent pool is this season." GM Ted Thompson might seemingly reach for a player, but that player might be better than the players he supposedly reached over. Kirwan listed Georgia S Thomas Davis as the 24th best player in the draft so maybe the Packers will draft Davis, especially since the Packers have no players currently on the roster worthy of starting at safety. The Packers could have no trouble finding a potential starting safety or linebacker in the second round at pick #51 either. If the talent level is as much of a blur as Kirwan suggests, then the Packers probably have no shot trading down because teams won't feel the need to move up to spot #24 to draft the player they have to draft. Maybe Thompson would trade up into the top 10 to draft someone like Texas LB Derrick Johnson, but with so much depth needed on the roster, it would be hard to surrender the second round pick at #51 or even worse a future number 1 pick to move up that far. Although Thompson had been credited for deciding Seattle's drafts in recent seasons, Thompson was only part of the front office. Now he is the front office. Maybe he really likes to wheel-and-deal on draft day. Maybe he likes to stand pat and let quality players fall to his selection. We won't know until after he establishes a pattern after a few drafts. Anything is possible with the draft this April.

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I can be reached via email at acmepackingcompany@gmail.com. I was born and raised in Wisconsin and I've been a fan of the Green Bay Packers since 1980. I moved away from Wisconsin many years ago, which led me to start this blog in 2003. It won't be updated with any breaking news stories, or any NFL exclusives. If you're interested in what I've got to say about some Packers news, this is where I say it.